


feeding the hearth

by grainjew



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Teacher Percy Jackson, boy are you so wrong, chiron is a good dad, if you think this entire camp full of adhd demigods isnt contantly fiddling with their spinny beads, necklaces r like. the Ultimate Stim. love me some spinny necklace attachments, percy is a good teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 14:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15821190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grainjew/pseuds/grainjew
Summary: Percy, Chiron, the joy of teaching, and happily ever afters.Percy took a deep breath. "I really, really like teaching, I think. Well, obviously I don't mind it, or I wouldn't have taken over all the swordfighting classes let alone be in the process of fixing how we teach canoeing and setting up swim classes for the new campers, but... making sure these kids can survive, giving them something to come back home to... it's somuchmore rewarding than finishing a quest."





	feeding the hearth

**Author's Note:**

> i accidentally ended up spending the past month diving headlong into my five-years dormant percy jackson etc special interest and almost ended up posting no fic this month, which would have been a _travesty_
> 
> anyways fun fact i love my disaster son percy. hes good. give him his happy ending already.

"Chiron?"

Percy found his teacher, mentor, and very first additional father-figure (hm, why were both of his non-biological dads teachers, anyways?) in the Big House, going over some papers in the lap of his wheelchair.

Percy was self-admittedly kind of sweaty and gross, because he'd just come from a long sword lesson with some of newer Ares kids, and then a sparring-slash-mutual-stress-relief-pummeling match with Clarisse where they went on so long they drew a crowd and ended up mutually calling a draw because Clarisse got bored of not winning and Percy had the sudden urge to talk to Chiron. Since the lake wasn't on the way from the amphitheater to the Big House he hadn't gotten a chance to jump in, either.

Not that he thought Chiron cared that much. At least it wasn't blood, and all that.

"Is there something wrong, Percy?" asked Chiron, glancing up for a second, probably to make sure Percy wasn't covered in blood and Camp wasn't burning down.

 _Maybe I should talk to him more, if I walk in and he immediately thinks something's on fire_. "Surprisingly, no," Percy answered. "I just... had a thought."

"I'm sure Annabeth would consider that a miracle in-and-of-itself." He didn't even look up, just kept scanning through whatever he was scanning through.

"Thanks, Chiron," said Percy dryly, too amused to be insulted.

"I'm just teasing, Percy," said Chiron. "Come, sit down."

Percy dragged a folding chair over from the corner, wincing as it scraped shrilly on the floor. He sat and caught himself worrying at his lip.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Chiron, when the silence had gone on for a bit longer than was comfortable and it was probably pretty obvious that Percy wasn't going to say anything on his own.

"Uh, well, remember my first day here?"

"It was rather memorable."

Percy put a hand on the back of his head and felt himself blush. "Uh well, anyways. You said back then, that you would be immortal as long as there were heroes to train, and I thought something like, _wow, teacher for eternity, that sounds like torture_." He paused, and his cheeks heated a little more. "Something like that, anyways. I can't remember what it was exactly."

"And now?" Chiron had that knowing look on his face, like he already knew the answer before he'd even formulated the question. Annabeth had probably got it off him, and Percy felt a warm fondness for both of them blossom deep in his chest.

"I guess... it doesn't sound so terrible now." Percy flicked the Titan War bead on his necklace, making it spin. "I mean, I still think I made the right decision, turning down the immortality thing — that's not gonna change anytime soon — but, honestly, I don't think I'd mind spending the rest of my life doing this, however long my life ends up being." He spun the Labyrinth bead, stared at it as it rotated.

"This being?" prompted Chiron.

"Oh, sorry," said Percy. "These beads really are the best fidget out there, whose idea were they? Cause I have someone new on my list to high-five."

"Nobody alive," said Chiron. "Focus, Percy."

"I can still high-five a dead guy, I just need Nico to help me out." He shook his head. "Right, sorry." He spun the bead from his very first summer, flicking his eyes around Chiron’s office, all the papers and mementos and horrible taste in music and all the minutiae of thousands of years of being alive.  "I'm so _tired_ of quests, and prophecies, and people dying. It was cool at first, I guess, but it stopped being cool somewhere between my friend trying to kill me and the first time someone died cause I couldn't save them." He glanced at Chiron's face, and then glanced away. "I mean, you know all that, I don't know why I'm telling you."

"It's alright. I’m here to listen."

It was always weird how Chiron could make you feel better about yourself without even trying, but the moment he actually put effort into a pep talk he basically flushed all potential optimism down the toilet.

Percy took a deep breath. "I really, really like teaching, I think. Well, obviously I don't mind it, or I wouldn't have taken over all the swordfighting classes let alone be in the process of fixing how we teach canoeing and setting up swim classes for the new campers, but... making sure these kids can survive, giving them something to come back home to... it's so _much_ more rewarding than finishing a quest."

Chiron nodded, not speaking, and Percy grinned proudly as a thought struck him. "Did you hear? Aviva from Demeter finally got the hang of that block she's been working on for _weeks_. Scared the Styx out of the kid she was sparring against.” He gestured wide. “I think it was Zora from the Roman side of things, that daughter of Maia who went back to their camp with Hazel yesterday."

"I hadn't heard, but I am very proud of her nonetheless." Chiron studied Percy. "I can see why Hestia likes you so much."

"She does?"

Chiron smiled at him, and Percy flicked another bead, trying to read the spines of a whole pile of books on one of the side-tables. They were in English, which was just rude. "She thinks very highly of you."

"I thought she was just nice to everyone, though?" Percy couldn't exactly help his face making the exact confused expression that he knew exasperated and charmed Annabeth in equal amounts.

"Well, there's that, too," admitted Chiron, "but you value her domain above almost any other. Instead of power or glory or a legacy, you just want everyone home at the end of the day, by the hearth she tends. Am I wrong?"

"Well... no, I guess," said Percy, slightly thrown by Chiron so casually putting words to his single greatest ambition. "You're right, of course. I mean, you basically raised Annabeth, of course you're right."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "No comment about the thousands of years of experience?"

"No offence Chiron, but there's lots of thousands of years old people who are idiots," said Percy, carefully not looking at the ceiling in case the local thousands of years old idiot with lightning bolts took offense. "I'd place my bets on Annabeth any day, and twice a day when the world is ending."

"You do have a point," replied Chiron, so completely straight-faced Percy couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic.

Percy took another deep breath. He was getting to what he guessed was the point of this whole conversation. Maybe. Not like he had actually planned beyond the first syllable of it. "So, um, speaking of her, once me and Annabeth—"

"Annabeth and I."

"Fine, Annabeth and I, once we finish college, if—"

"I would be more than glad to have you back at Camp, Percy," said Chiron, predicting what Percy was going to ask, and Percy felt a wide, relieved grin spread itself across his face, "and I know everyone else would as well. We can even make you an official member of the staff, because I'm sure Mr. D would appreciate someone else to hand off duties to."

Aaaand good mood gone. Percy wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, I'm regretting this already."

"And don't forget to hand the final versions of your curriculum for next summer's swordfighting classes in to me by next weekend!"

"Regretting this _so hard_ right now." Percy couldn't quite get the words to come out as annoyed as he thought they really should be.

Chiron laughed, and there was nothing mocking about it. "We'll be glad to have you," he repeated, and Percy ducked his head to fiddle more with his beads. "You'll do magnificently, hero. You already have."

"Thanks," whispered Percy, blinking away a sudden spray of tears. Chiron kindly ignored them and even more kindly didn't say anything when Percy, realizing he had never actually hugged his mentor-teacher-benefactor-father-friend before, wrapped his arms around Chiron and held on.

He centered himself to the tug of the tide, the sea breeze seeping through the edges of the window, to the beat of Chiron’s heart and the warmth of his body, and he let himself believe that, someday, someday soon, life would be peaceful and lives would be long and hearth would be tangible.


End file.
